Do rugs on hard floors help keep your home warm?
@happythoughts (4109)
United States
October 7, 2008 8:10pm CST
I have often noticed that my kitchen stays cooler then the rest of the house, unless I am cooking in there. Does the hard floor create cooler temperatures? Would a rug keep the room warmer or would it just feel warmer? Would it help keep my heat bill down?
2 people like this
7 responses
@makingpots (11915)
• United States
8 Oct 08
If your home has a pier and beam foundation it should keep your heat bill down for sure. With a cement slab foundation I think it is more of an illusion of warmth.
..... this is all just opinion.
1 person likes this
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
8 Oct 08
Out house has a basement and it definately stays cooler down there. We try to keep the door between the downstairs and upstairs closed when we are not using it. It all adds up.
1 person likes this
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Oct 08
I have never heard of that. I love our basement and I wish it was warmer but I am thankful we have a fairy efficent house.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
8 Oct 08
We have the opposite problem our basement is usually warmer in winter than our upstairs. Too bad we can't afford the improvments we need desperatly to make our home more energy effecient.
@jillbeth (2705)
• United States
8 Oct 08
Rugs will definitely keep your floors warmer. We pulled up all our ratty carpet a few years ago and are still using the orignal hardwood floors for now while we decide what to do with them. I put some area rugs down in front of the sofa and chairs and walkways to keep our feet warmer in the winter! Rugs will help keep your heating bill down because they will insulate the cold floors from the room.
1 person likes this
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
8 Oct 08
I love hardwood floors. They have such a warm and welcoming feel. I might try to make a rag rug so I can match it to my decor. I hate it when my heater turns on right after it flips off and I feel like I building up a huge bill.
1 person likes this
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
12 Oct 08
Well, wood cools very easily but rugs...which're made of fabric-like materials -- retain warmth more than wood tends to.
So yeah, it can keep the house warmer =)
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
14 Oct 08
I wish I could find that miracle that would cut my bill down noticable. But I will take what I can get.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
8 Oct 08
I have a hardwood floor on my kitchen too and my floor is always cold. I was thinking of buying a nice big carpet to put under the kitchen table really just for looks, but it would be nice to sit down and have the floor warmer when eating. I don't know if it really would cut down on the heating bills, but if my feet are warm, I am happy.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Oct 08
I think if I felt warm then I would be less likely to turn the thermostat up and then I would save some money. The heater just turned on and it is driving me nuts. It just sounds like money going away to me.
@jeanene72 (16)
• United States
18 Dec 09
I recently enclosed a back porch,which, of course, was concrete. I them put ceramic tile over that. The room, which I designed as a sunroom, has 7 windows. Although the room is insulated top and sides, it is still hard to feel comfortable in here. There is no direct heat vent into the room, since it is over a concrete pad next to the basement.
I asked a contractor if there was any way to run another duct into the room, he said no. Even though the windows are new e-glass, the room is cold unless the sun is out. Then it gets comfortable.
at
My next thought is to add carpet, not wall to wall but large enough area rugs to cover the floor, that I can take up again in summer. Before I spend that much money I want to know that it will be worth the difference. We are running an oil-filled radiator space heater and am worried about the electric bill. I think, if rugs really do help, it will need a thick pad. Will that stick to my tile and be hard to remove?
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
14 Oct 08
If I feel warmer then I would be less likely to crank up the heat and so I guess in a round about way I would save a penny here and there. It all adds up.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
8 Oct 08
A person always feels warmer when their feet r warm! I hate walking around on ice cold floors in the early mornings.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
14 Oct 08
I did go out and get a small rug today. Actualy I got a great deal on it too. My Mom took me and the kids out for lunch and after she wanted to buy the kids a treat. Then she let me get a treat too and I picked a small rug. It worked out well for all of us. It is one less cold spot.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
14 Oct 08
I hear ya! I wear flip slide sandals in the house in winter when the floors are cold and I"m too lazy to try to put on a slipper. One time I left the house for work in my sandals... OOPS ! *LOL*
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
8 Oct 08
I think it makes a great difference having rugs on hardwood floors. One house I lived in I redid all the floors, once I found that there was beautiful wood floors hidden underneath the ugly shag carpeting that was there. While it did look amazingly beautiful once I was done with the project, I did notice that the rooms stayed much cooler, especially on the floors. Heat rises, and cold travels to the floor. Once I realized that I got a huge braided rug for the living room, and a large area rug for in the dining room, and I found it made a huge difference in comfort. I think that rugs help trap the heat from being absorbed into the flooring, and acts sort of like a buffer zone. I have wall-to-wall here at this house, and I've always thought how pretty it'd be with the natural flooring...then I think how cold it would be! In the kitchen you could put smaller area rugs in front of the sink, and in front of the stove, which is where us house Moms spend a whole lot of time :-)
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
8 Oct 08
I am excited to get some rugs. I does make sense that it would help, but I didnt know for sure. I didnt want to spend the money on rugs and then have it not do any good. Id love to see my heat bill go down a little this year.
1 person likes this
